I got into school for nothing - 297
I got into school for nothing (297)
Lesson 58. Spartoi - 2
Asha could no longer endure.
Her anxiety had escalated ever since she first saw the Dragon Fang Soldiers that Aire had brought. It only intensified as she watched the Fairy Queen Yura, utterly oblivious to her age and standing, brazenly throw herself at Ban Yuwon. The final blow, however, came when she saw Rucell, who had actually contacted her home planet and brought a whole host of beast-kin, including her mother and father.
This war shouldn't have been Ban Yuwon's alone, yet somehow, it had turned into a perverse competition where the more troops one mobilized, the more favored by Ban Yuwon they seemed to become.
Indeed, Ban Yuwon was even patting Rucell, telling her he was grateful and proud, despite her pathetic fawning.
To be frank, she was nothing more than a crazy bitch who, blinded by a man, had uprooted her entire home planet's foundation, let alone her family!
‘But to deal with a crazy bitch, I have to become a crazy bitch myself.’
The truth Asha had learned from surviving this harsh world was that if she just cowered and retreated, she would gain nothing.
‘That absolutely cannot happen...! I, too, must pull out the very roots of my home at this point!’
Asha fully leveraged the status she had previously gained with the assistance of Aire and Rasteil Pendragon Melodia, deciding to summon the entire knightly order that typically guarded the nation and only obeyed the commands of those who held royal authority.
Ban Yuwon, who had single-handedly swept through an entire planet in the D-13 Dimension, might have been looking down on her dimension, but the Guardian Knights she led were truly powerful.
It wasn't thanks to some grand conditions, such as the robust military power of the nations comprising the guardian alliance or their seamless cooperation, that they had managed to protect the guardian alliance from constantly invading dimension pirates and external dimensional threats.
It was simply because Asha, and the knightly order she led, were strong.
Though it was a Guardian Knightly Order where no one exceeded Level 100, due to the inherent limitations of the D-13 Dimension, when Asha led them, they became extraordinarily powerful.
Perhaps it was the power of the Holy Sword, she'd vaguely thought as a child, but now she understood the precise reason.
‘Perhaps an ancestor, who was a True Dragon, cast some kind of magic. Maybe they enchanted the armor and swords passed down through generations of the Guardian Knights, or perhaps there's some kind of magical contract.’
In any case, the important thing was that the D-13 Dimension—and specifically Camelot's Guardian Knights—could play a more active role in this war than anyone else.
Not only could she display her dignified and splendid self leading the knightly order to her companions, who had only ever seen her unreliable side, but upon seeing Asha achieve results with overwhelming performance, outshining even the beast-kin from an E-rank dimension, Ban Yuwon might exclaim, "As expected of Asha! I knew the dowry you brought would be the best!" and take her as his first wife!
‘Ideally, I’d want him to take only me as his wife, but Rucell and that damned fairy clearly have no intention of separating from him...’
Her naive self, who indulged in fantasies favorable only to her, had been overcome with Ban Yuwon's help when she slew her ancestor.
Now was the time to realistically assess her future with Ban Yuwon.
This was not the time to dream of a romantic, exclusive relationship with the heart of a girl who only read fairy tales.
In this fierce competition, it was crucial to secure a position closer to Ban Yuwon, to occupy a significant place in his heart.
Yes, at the very least, she had to be better than Dokgo Yeon, who hadn't even kissed Ban Yuwon yet, didn't she?
"Dokgo Yeon can't bring any troops anyway."
"That may be true, but it's rather irritating to hear you say it while staring right at me."
Asha had merely wanted to subtly boast about her superiority, but Dokgo Yeon's eyes narrowed fiercely, and she reached out to pinch Asha's cheek.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Yuwon, this witch is tormenting me!"
"Overcome your crises with your own strength! How long will you keep calling only Yuwon's name?!"
"You're just being mean, ow, ow, ow!"
Ban Yuwon stared at Asha, who had needlessly picked a fight with Dokgo Yeon and was now getting thrashed without even breaking even, with an unidentifiable expression. He then decided to leave her to it, for the sake of her spiritual growth, and turned his gaze out of the spaceship.
In preparation for the upcoming war, the party was once again breaking through the dimensional barrier to visit Asha's home, the D-13 Dimension, and enlist Camelot's elite troops at full strength.
"It's perfect timing. I'll take this chance to finish what I couldn't deal with last time."
Even though they had only intended to bring back soldiers with just the existing Rebellion members, Aire had naturally accompanied them on the spaceship, and just as naturally, she took the seat next to Ban Yuwon and was calmly sipping tea.
"What you couldn't deal with?"
"Something that awakened the Dragon's Tomb. The danger Asha's ancestor deliberately left behind... likely the remnants of a True Dragon."
Come to think of it, he remembered them discussing going back to Asha's homeland.
Ban Yuwon took out the thermos he always carried, intending to pour himself some tea. Noticing Dokgo Yeon's fixed gaze on the bottle, he chuckled and first poured out a share for his companions.
"Everyone, have a cup. It seems there will be a battle..."
"It wasn't complete then, but if it comes into contact with the Dragon Factor again, the seal will likely be perfectly released. I look forward to the spoils."
"Wait a minute, Aire."
Asha, barely freed from Dokgo Yeon's grasp thanks to the cocoa Ban Yuwon offered, approached with one cheek swollen and spoke.
"It's my homeland we're going to, why are you more excited? Why are you sitting next to Yuwon?"
"Because Asha doesn't know much about this matter."
"Ugh...! N-no, I know perfectly well! My ancestor, who was a True Dragon, was trying to use me to do bad things to other True Dragons, right?"
"Yes, that will happen in Camelot."
At Aire's stern declaration, Asha twitched an eyebrow, recalling her father, who was consumed by self-preservation.
The Dragon's Tomb had been discovered not in Camelot, but in Galahad, the weakest member of the guardian alliance.
So she had vaguely assumed that whatever happened, as Aire had said, would take place in Galahad...
"Not Galahad?"
"Galahad's Dragon's Tomb was merely revealed as a side effect of something dormant in Camelot having its seal broken. Galahad was originally just a satellite, and its history was created solely for the tomb."
"I don't know what you mean. Well, the history of Galahad or whatever is irrelevant now, but..."
"Ah—how is Galahad, by the way?"
"It's ruined."
Asha immediately replied to Ban Yuwon, who had suddenly interjected with a question.
Thinking back to the commotion that had occurred in Galahad, there was no way that planet could still maintain its form as a nation.
Although the conclusion was that they had merely been played by dimension pirates—in the process of Ban Yuwon excavating the ruins and them trying to claim it, the nation's military power was halved. Moreover, the fact that they tried to gobble up a treasure comparable to the Holy Sword had become known to the other allies.
According to Asha's explanation, based on the reports she still occasionally received from her kingdom, because all the core royal family members had died, the already meager forces were split into factions, fighting over the next succession. Then, with the intervention of other planets in the alliance, they were all swept away without a trace.
Ban Yuwon, who had a significant impact on this catastrophic outcome, seemed momentarily dazed by the hopeless tale but soon merely shrugged.
"It's a natural outcome for being greedy beyond their station."
"Good, a mindset befitting a Transcendent."
"Aire, are you implying I sound like a psychopath just now?"
"Don't state the obvious; just focus on what's ahead. We're breaking through the dimensional barrier soon."
Just as he was about to retort to Aire, Dokgo Yeon's voice cut in, and Ban Yuwon shifted his gaze forward. The spaceship, having already broken through the dimensional barrier, was now speeding through familiar space.
They were now revisiting the D-13 Dimension, which they had previously visited covertly, as esteemed guests.
Of course, that was because Asha, the next leader of the guardian alliance, was on board this spaceship.
"But what are those spaceships approaching from afar?"
"Our dimension's dimensional technology isn't very developed, so high-dimensional pirates could easily manipulate access permissions and trick us. That's why they want to confirm with their own eyes. Hand me the mic for a second."
"Okay...!"
"Aire, move."
Perhaps she had gained a certain confidence now that she was in her homeland. Asha, having pushed Aire, who had been sitting haughtily next to Ban Yuwon all this time, away with her hip, clung tightly to his side and connected to the guardian alliance communication network.
"This is Asha Light Camelot, heir of Camelot."
—Understood, Your H-Highness. An honor, Prince.
"It's 'Princess'."
—Y-Yes?! Understood, Princess!
Despite being an authorized visit, the fleet of spaceships that had been encircling them visibly flinched at Asha's single remark and slowly retreated.
Asha, who always seemed lacking when acting with the Rebellion members, now controlled so many people with just one word; she looked different all of a sudden.
As if noticing Ban Yuwon's gaze, Asha thrust out her neck, full of swagger.
If she hadn't done that, she would have looked more dignified, but Ban Yuwon, who had hesitated to point it out, decided against it.
Because he thought this was, after all, more fitting for Asha.
"It seems Light's true gender isn't widely known yet. Even though the Melodia family officially broadcast it."
Meanwhile, Rucell, who had been sitting opposite Ban Yuwon since they boarded the spaceship, tilted her head and mumbled in a curious tone.
Aire, who had been miserably ousted from her seat next to Ban Yuwon by Asha's hip, glared at Rucell with an expression that seemed to envy her unshakable position—as firm as a Simmons bed—and spoke.
"The D-13 Dimension is a backwater dimension. Few people there would have proper access to the Union Net. Furthermore, that king likely wouldn't have actively spread news of events that could strengthen Asha's status or influence. On the contrary, he would have tried to hide it."
"A backwater, you say. And Father..."
Asha had opened her mouth as if to refute Aire's chilly tone but soon lost the will to speak and closed her mouth.
Because even she felt that her father would indeed act that way.
"But rest assured, Asha."
Despite speaking with such an aggressive tone, perhaps she disliked seeing her friend upset. Aire took Asha's hand and spoke in a somewhat softened voice.
"That fellow can never go against Melodia's will. He might run wild when you're not around, but now that you've returned, he will move according to your will."
"I... if only Father would just a little more... No, no. You're right, Aire."
It seemed Asha's heart was troubled for reasons beyond just that.
Perhaps it was too heavy a topic to divulge at this moment, for she simply closed her mouth.
"Thank you once again, Aire. It's thanks to you that I can bring these reinforcements..."
"A precious friend, a fellow Dragonoid. The Melodia family will move any number of times for Asha."
"Aire..."
The two Dragonoids, suddenly holding hands, created a somewhat shy atmosphere.
Ban Yuwon thought this was fine in its own way, but he said nothing aloud.
Before long, Camelot's spaceship landing pad came into view.
Above it, a Mecha Dragon was rampaging.
...What?
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